Archive for the ‘Goals’ Category

I want to share a story with you that I personally found very motivating.

This story of a Dad and his son, is a great example of what CAN be accomplished with the power of determination and love.

Read the story first and then check out the video…

(courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

“I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars–all in the same day.

Dick’s also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much–except save his life. This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

“He’ll be a vegetable the rest of his life;” Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an Institution.”

But the Hoyts weren’t buying it. They noticed the way Rick’s eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,” Dick says he was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.”

“Tell him a joke,” Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!” And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want To do that.”

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “porker” who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,” Dick says. “I was sore For two weeks.”

That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,” he typed, “when we were running, It felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!”

And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

“No way,” Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren’t quite a Single runner, and they weren’t quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?”

How’s a guy who never learned to swim and hadn’t ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don’t you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you’d do on your own? “No way,” he says. Dick does it purely for “the awesome feeling” he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992–only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don’t keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

“No question about it,” Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.”

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,” One doctor told him, “you probably would’ve died 15 years ago.” So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father’s Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

“The thing I’d most like,” Rick types, “is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.”

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I hope you found the story to be as inspirational as I did…

On days when I might lack a little motivation or the drive to get my workout in, it’s this kind of example of strength and will, that makes me think.…

“What’s my excuse?”

Take care,

Andy

Anouncing the Warrior Built Boot Camp!

Cost: $60+ taxes

Location: Bushido Martial Arts Fitness Center

The Boot Camps will run each Saturday morning at 11:00am, starting March 14th, for a total of six classes. Each session will run approx 50min.

The class will consist of a warm-up round, then five 5min conditioning rounds, consisting of body weight exercises and light resistance training, followed by a cool down/stretch.

The classes will be “go at your own pace”, so it’s open to any fitness level, beginners are encouraged, however the classes will also be challenging enough for more advanced athletes with the variety of exercises.

Classes are open to both men and women…anyone looking to improve their cardiovascular conditioning and burn unwanted body fat!

As a bonus for signing up for the first Warrior Built Boot Camps you will receive a…

Free Warrior Built DVD + Meal Plan!

Sign up now for the 6 week Warrior Built Boot Camp and get a free copy of the Warrior Built DVD and meal plan. You will be able to use the workout video at home for even faster results, and follow the same meal plan that the first three Warrior built participants used to achieve outstanding results! One of the first three participants lost 19 lbs in only 6 weeks! Their average weight loss for 12 weeks was 31+ lbs.

Check out this video for a preview of the Warrior Built Program:

Space is limited so sign up now to reserve your spot. Now is the time for you to get in awesome shape for spring!

To sign up, call Andy at749-7637

Or email personalbest @ gmail . com to register.

All the best,

Andy Pratt

P.S. Stay tuned for details regarding an all women’s Boot Camp with Courtney Rowsell starting soon too!

Recently I was asked for some good practical, no-nonsense fitness and nutrition tips that would help someone get real results.

So here is what I’ve put together as my my picks for the…

The Top 10 Fitness and Nutrition Tips!

There is no shortage of advice to be found…everywhere you turn, magazines, internet and on TV there is always some sort of ad promoting the latest “Fad Diet” or miracle contraption all of which promises to be THE ANSWER! With all the gadgets, gizmos and conflicting advice, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with information overload!

Well, if I had to weed through all the hype…what would be my choice of the best 10 tips? What nuggets of information have I gathered through my 10+ years of experience in the fitness industry? What strategies, secrets and tricks have I learned to be the most useful?

Well, here is what I consider to be my Top Ten List!

In no particular order…just putting my Top 10 out there.

1.      Fish Oils. Taking fish oil capsules regularly will boost your metabolism and help you get leaner faster. They are super healthy for you and they work. This is as close as you can get to a secret weapon for burning fat. To quote a mentor of mine, Dr. John Berardi from his book Gourmet Nutrition…

“Recent Studies have also shown that taking a few grams of EPA and DHA per day can speed up metabolism rate by about 400kcal per day. Imagine that, pop a few fish oil capsules with each meal and you can afford to eat an additional meal each and every day. Talk about exciting news.”

2.      Green Tea. It’s inexpensive and it helps boost your metabolism. There’s a reason why green tea extract is one of the main ingredients in just about every metabolism boosting product on the market.

3.      Water, Water, Water. We all know that we should drink sufficient water throughout the day, but doing it is another story. One practice that I follow is to start my day with two cups of water right off the bat, first thing when I get out of bed. Shoot for 3+ litres a day.

4.      Frequent meals. Every time you eat you boost your metabolism. 2500 cal of food eaten over 6 meals will give you a leaner body then if you eat the exact same 2500 cal of food in only 2 or 3 meals. The key is Smaller, Frequent, Meals!

5.      Get Active. Walk, run, swim, jog, bike, hike, race, climb.  Join a spin class, lift weights, take the dog for a walk, play tennis, play hockey.…make it fun, do something you enjoy! Just do something and do it often.

6.      Small changes add up to big results. Years ago I switched my coffee from “double double” to just fresh milk. I normally enjoy a couple of cups of coffee a day, by switching to fresh milk I have cut out 14 cream and sugar every week or 730 cream and sugar in a year! That one thing adds up to noticeable results! (Someone could loss up to 30+lbs in a year with this one change alone!)

7.      “Strive for Excellence not Perfection” I find this to be the root of the problem for many people, Courtney and myself included. I won’t go into great detail here, because this one deserves an email all in itself.  Basically I find a lot of people fall victim to what I call The All or Nothing Approach, or the Monday morning scenario. Thoughts such as “I blew it now, so I might as well wait until Monday morning to start fresh on my eating plan”. There is no in-between. Once you fail, you might as well fail big time and eat what you want before you start again. How crazy is that?

This mindset is self sabotaging. When in reality if they had stopped after the bag of chips and eaten well the rest of the day they would have been much better off.

8. Balance/Moderation is the key. I consider food to be one of life’s pleasures.  Courtney and I eat clean all week and then Friday nights is our scheduled cheat meal. Courtney will say that when it’s planed it’s a treat, not a cheat! When Friday night comes I’ll have whatever I want, meal and dessert too. 90% adhesion to a meal plan will actually give you pretty much the same results as never having an “off the plan” meal. The key however is making sure you’re really going 90% not 65%.

9.   Set Goals. It’s a proven fact; you’ll make better progress by setting a goal and writing it down. Be as clear-cut with that goal as possible…Being vague won’t work!

10.  Be Consistent. It’s Consistency not Novelty that creates outstanding results!
Because it was Valentines last week…I want to leave you with a message from Courtney. It’s a speech she gave at toastmasters Wed night entitled “Self Love is it Selfish?” I also feel it’s important to make our own health a priority. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYmkhsE8xCQ

Stay tuned for more soon!

Andy

The Warrior Built DVD Set is finally ready! After a year of hard work I’m very excited to announce the launch of Warrior Built!

It seemed like the never ending project, there was so much to film and extra pieces to include, but the end results will be worth it. Mark Hefferman at Studio 709 is top notch with the quality of his work, so I’m pretty excited that it was his company who produced the DVD.

What is Warrior Built?

The Warrior Built program combines MMA and Boxing style conditioning exercises, designed to get you leaner, stronger and in your best physical condition. It is a convenient DVD training system that can be done right in the comfort of your own home, just three days a week.

Maybe you’re thinking “I don’t want to be a fighter; I just want to look like one!”

Well, this is really the purpose of “Warrior Built”. Following the program will definitely make you stronger and improve your cardio conditioning, but it’s not an instructional video, you aren’t going to be taught jujitsu or advanced boxing.

To create the Warrior Built program I combined my expertise in physique transformations, and my interest in MMA and boxing into a complete training system that delivers rapid results.

Bottom line:

This video won’t teach you to fight like George St. Pierre…Who Can?!

But there’s No reason why you can’t look like he does!”

Warrior Built is a workout that…

1. Is Fun to do.
2. Can be done at home with minimal equipment.
3. Only takes 30 minutes per day, three days a week.
4. Delivers outstanding results!

My objective was to take an average guy with no exercise experience, who might be completely inactive, through a 12 week muscle building, fat burning, and physique transformation.

So to demonstrate the strength of this program, I decided to take a few participants through a “real-time” 12 week transformation using the Warrior Built program and capture their journey on film.

I selected three local guys to participate… I met with each of them personally and shared the idea of the Warrior Built program. I gave each of them the opportunity to get involved and become the VERY FIRST Warrior Built Team. All three thought it was an awesome idea and agreed to participate.

Warrior Built is a Two DVD Set!

Disk One:  A documentary of three local guys who followed the Warrior Built Program for 12 weeks. Watch their transformation journey; share their struggles, stories, and laughter, as they strive to reach their “Final Weigh-In Goals”.

Disk Two: Contains 6 different workouts, with over 3 hours of follow-a-long instructions.

I’m super excited to share this amazing program with you. Follow along with me during the workouts!

If you’re looking for a fresh new workout that’s fun to do then grab a copy of Warrior Built!

Andy Pratt